In the movie classic Wizard Of Oz, Dorothy’s character claims, “There’s no place like home.”

Thus far, that’s held true for the first five games between the East’s top seeded Celtics and eighth seeded Hawks in the First Round. Coming off consecutive losses in Atlanta, Boston rebounded with a 110-85 Game Five victory to go up 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.

The result wasn’t surprising since the Celts fed off the energy like they did in Games One and Two. Factor in that Atlanta was 0 for their last 11 in road playoff games. So, it was predictable especially with a young team.

Though Boston led throughout building a double digit lead, the pesky Hawks chipped away at it cutting the deficit to 11 with under a minute left in the third quarter. That’s when the two biggest plays were made from Paul Pierce and James Posey to rebuild an 81-64 lead by the quarter’s conclusion.

First, Pierce drove the lane and converted a very difficult acrobatic lay-up getting fouled for a three-point play. Following an Atlanta misfire, heady Boston point guard Rajon Rondo got the ball quickly up court and found a wide open Posey for a bread and butter trey with a second to spare. 

Just like that, instead of the Hawks possibly being down by nine, instead they trailed by 17. While not insurmountable, it was just too much to ask for a vastly inexperienced Atlanta club to comeback from.

Led by Pierce’s series best 22 (10-of-17 FG) along with seven rebounds and six assists, the Celtics cruised to the 25-point win at TD Banknorth Garden. Kevin Garnett scored 20, posted five boards and seven assists. Rondo also dropped seven times as Doc Rivers’ club spread the wealth with 12 more assists than their opponent (Celts-28, Hawks-16).

Boston also got a splendid shooting night from Ray Allen, who connected on five-of-eight three’s en route to 19 points. Even savvy vet Sam Cassell got into the act nailing two triples on his way to a valuable 13 off the bench in just 15 minutes.

The Celts held the three-point edge sinking 9-of-20 to the Hawks’ 4-of-13.

In a losing effort, Game Four hero Joe Johnson paced his team with 21 finishing 6-of-11 from the field including two from downtown plus a perfect seven-for-seven at the charity stripe. Rookie center Al Horford had his best effort of the series notching a double/double (14 and 10) to go with five assists. Josh Smith added 18 with five boards, three assists and three steals.

So, can the Hawks do what team legend and exec Dominique Wilkins flashed showing seven fingers to a TNT camera? They’ll need a better effort from veteran guard Mike Bibby. Six points and just one assist while turning it over three times in almost 40 minutes just won’t cut it. Conversely, he had 18 in their Game Four win at Phillips Arena. That’s what they’ll need.

It will take a lot of effort on both sides of the court to extend the battle tested Celtics the distance. By now, they want to get this series over with and not chance going a seventh game.

Sure. They’re not losing this series. However, going seven this round won’t help their quest to reach the NBA Finals.

In the other playoff series last night, the Cavs couldn’t close out the Wizards dropping an 88-87 decision on their home floor. They got outscored 6-0 in the final 1:47 blowing an 87-82 lead.

Delonte West’s three-point play had supplied Cleveland with the five-point lead but some bad possessions along with a Caron Butler score plus two Antonio Daniels free throws suddenly cut it to 87-86 with 43 ticks left.

A couple of more Cleveland misses from in tight allowed the Wizards to get the ball back. Following a timeout, they went to their best player Butler, who hit a tough driving lay-up with LeBron James draped all over him.

There were still 3.9 seconds left. Enough time for LeBron to once again end Washington’s season as he had a couple of years prior. However, this time he missed a runner off the backboard and rim allowing the Wizards to escape with new life.

They’ll now get a Game Six back in the nation’s capital tomorrow. Who thinks they’re losing that? You can pretty much book a Game Seven.

Butler’s heroics put the exclamation point on a brilliant night. The former Uconn star finished with 32 points on 11-of-22 shooting including four trifectas along with six-for-seven from the line. He also added nine rebounds, five assists and two swipes in nearly playing all 48.

For once, a Walt Frazier expression played true. The Butler did it! There’s a reason he’s one of my fave players. He’s really worked hard to become an NBA All-Star and a versatile player who can score, get teammates involved and D up. His big night along with DeShawn Stevenson’s 17 and Daniels’ 12 helped offset only eight from Antawn Jamison.

For the Cavs, James led the way with 34 netting 24 in the second half. Did we also mention the man child had 10 boards and seven assists? Just awe inspiring. How can you not love LeBron? Well, with the exception of driving a really fast car at insane speeds and all the other fame which comes with it…Never mind.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 19 and West netted 12 points, five rebounds and eight assists. Great pickup from Seattle for next to nothing! I called that one.

Realistically, I can’t see the Cavs dropping this series. The Wizards are without Gilbert Arenas. Even if they have played well without him, it’s hard to see them winning three in a row over LeBron. Especially with a seventh game back in Cleveland.

Figure the MVP candidate to rescue his team.

Mavericks Fire Johnson: In other NBA news, it came as little shock that Dallas fired coach Avery Johnson for another first round disappointment. Still, I feel he got a raw deal here as it was just too much to expect the former NBA Coach Of The Year to suddenly make it all work because crazy owner Mark Cuban got Jason Kidd at the deadline. Two months just isn’t enough time to mesh and they ran into a better opponent in the Hornets.

You have to figure Johnson will wind up coaching again. Maybe the Bulls or Knicks? It’s also rumored that Mike D’Antoni will step down as Suns coach. Look for him to resurface in Toronto and re-team with Bryan Colangelo. That also would mean Sam Mitchell would not return as Raptor coach even though he’s done an admirable job.

That’s the NBA for ya where it’s all about now and how far you go. Proven track records only work if your name is Larry Brown, who still manages to get jobs even though he’s just in Charlotte for another paycheck.

Ditto Pat Riley, who “retired from coaching.” Just ask current Magic coach Stan Van Gundy about that. Who really could take Riley at his word? In the old WFAN days, Steve Somers and Russ Salzberg got it right when Riles dissed New York only to resurface in Miami:

The Loser Within

See. Even American Idol’s Paula Abdul got one right.